The Rine

The Rine is a long, thin finger of land that runs parallel to the coast between Ballyvaghan and Gleninagh. Only a few metres wide in places, it is formed by the deposition of stones and sands from the currents in Galway Bay. It makes a great walk, and there is a lot of bird life in the lagoon it forms on the landward side. In winter (this was taken at the end of December 2003) it's easy to be caught out by swift hailstorms and on the Rine there's nowhere to hide! The spectacular colours under these deep grey skies makes up for the soaking though.

Ralph Doyle